Serendipity

Through this artwork, I wanted to enrich audience experience by activating touch, smell, and sound, instead of only visual experiences. I wanted to challenge the boundary between artist and audience by inviting audiences to interact with the artwork and play around with their understanding. I aimed to create a status of childhood memory, by encouraging a playful interaction with the artwork. “Serendipity” refers to the occurrence of a happy accident, and of how the audience’s interaction with the work would bring me an unexpected different perspective.

The work came from a group of patterns I worked on for over a year. I have developed these patterns with different materials and techniques, such as oil painting, drawing, 3D printing, screen printing, photography, and so on. Experiencing the work develop from two-dimensional to three-dimensional was like seeing the pieces grow and come to life. I felt so strongly connected to it that I felt like I had become part of the pattern. Each part of the shape is like a bit of me; a bit of my language.

I put statin into the porcelain clay and made each piece using a hand slab building technique. The shape of the blocks developed from my drawings. Each one represents an element of an artistic symbolized language. Therefore, when audiences play with the blocks, it is like they are creating a conversation with the artist.

The playful interaction between audiences and the work is part of my design. The intention is to break down the boundary between the viewers and the artist. The materiality of ceramics being fragile determines they must be treated with care: a little tension, play with them, touch them, feel them with caution.

There is a hidden sound element inside some of the blocks, which triggers an unexpected sound when certain blocks are picked up. I believe art is about curiosity and fulfilling the human nature of wondering about artwork’s texture. However, for centuries the art world has isolated audiences away from the artwork. This piece was an attempt to break down that barrier by inviting audiences to touch my work, and play with it, in order to create a conversation with me.

Pop Up Exhibition for Serendipity

Playful, interactive and fun, is what I sought for the final artwork for my third year project. From my previous ceramic practice, I developed mortise and tenons using clay, and a concept of coalescence and separation. On top of that, I have explored the balance and harmony of structural arrangements.

Inviting the audience to physically play with my artwork and interpret it has always been a major part of my work. Ceramic’s fragile nature has always kept the audience away from this type of artwork. Touching, as one of our five senses, provides us with further information of texture, temperature and intimate relation, which could not be experienced by only observing with one’s eyes. By letting the audience feel the artwork, I hope to create intimacy between them and my work.. Furthermore, the audience’s personal interpretations and placements of the artwork could be a resourceful observing experience for me.

I like my artwork to include a childhood toy quality, to bring back the joy and satisfaction from simply stacking and connecting pieces of toys. I was inspired from my drawings and paintings of symbols and geometric forms. From my previous study in 3D printing, I had transformed a two-dimensional painting into a three-dimensional sculpture. It brought me a new way of looking at the symbols.

The symbols I used represent meanings in a language I designed. In my experience, I feel language separates people, in comparison symbols are much easier to adapt. I am inspired by Korean Artist Yun Wook Mun. His use of mixed media, sense of humor, and understanding of gravity and balance has profoundly helped to evolve my own work. I really admire his use of colored slip and colored clay, along with his works’ element of simplicity and playfulness.

The project would be a large installation of hierarchy in different sizes of geometrical form that intersect one another. I will use porcelain southern ice paper clay with pink colored stain with hierarchy in coloring degrees. I will use slab building technique and carving into the surface to enhance the pattern. I will also use moulding technique to mould from my 3D printed work, in order to cast small parts of the work. I will use small parts of pearl luster instead of glazing my pieces. I wish to create a matt finish with small shiny smooth finish in order to create a contrast between the two.

Untitled

2018

Material: Oilpaint, Fabric, BambooTechnique: Stitching, Painting

For me it is important to demonstrate my identity as a Chinese and Australian cultural hybrid. I grew up with my grandma, a Chinese painter. She has influenced me a lot in the culture of Chinese painting.

Calligraphic scroll paintings are ancient and highly admired in Chinese culture. The idea is to only show a little section at a time, revealing a certain part of a story within the scroll. In ancient times, scholars would display several meters of scroll paintings at home, to show off to their visitors. One of the most classic, internationally known Chinese paintings of this type is the Qing Ming Shanghe map, which is over 528 inches long and was painted in North Song dynasty between 1085 and 1145. This scroll painting depicts people traveling along the streets in a market. In comparison, Western paintings have a different method of display, where the canvas is stretched and stagnant, and kept within a frame. Since this was my first time to employ oil painting, I wanted to offer up my skills in the style of Chinese scroll painting.

My intention was to paint four different color organizations rolled out in exact height and length. I spent a lot of time painting during the first semester of my final year, exploring different arrangements of colors, numbers and shapes. I found a painting to be very soothing and comforting. There was no stress of how fragile the clay would be or worrying that I was rushing through drying.

For me, painting is a great skill to go back to while I make new ceramics projects. It provides a different source and angle of inspiration. While making “Serendipity”, I often referred back to this painting, which was hung on my studio wall, to seek shape inspiration for my three-dimensional transition. First, I started painting forms of ceramic pieces and then I took the forms out onto a flat painting surface. I have drawn a lot of continua T of different shape arrangements. Then I started transferring those forms back onto the clay surface as a decoration of lines and shapes.

While working on this painting, I learned other artistic skills in my photography and screen-printing electives, where I continued working these shapes on different surfaces and using different techniques. I then decided to 3D print the shapes, which turned the shapes from 2 dimensional into 3 dimensional. I have taken great influence from the transformation and made a replica of the 3-D printed forms’ enclave. This experience has shown me that I can simplify forms into individual pieces and still have some connection to others by intentionally leaving out spaces. I have enjoyed this process so much that I want to learn more different mediums that could help me expand my artistic thinking in different ways. So far, I find painting to be the most familiar and stress-free medium. Painting has helped me a lot to calm down and take my mind off of stressful situations. It cures me in a way.

Untitled

This organic form was made after my field study to Buchan Caves. Buchan caves are a group of limestone caves that includes Royal Cave and Fairy Cave. They have a total length of between 3 and 4 km. The lime stone a book and was laid down during the Devonian. About 300 to 400,000,000 years ago. At the time the sea covers this area of East gippsland which was a life with shellfish and coral.

It is like entering in the world in the caves and taking my mind off my geometrical shapes and really getting to see how those limestones has formed over millions of years how it grows out of the dripping off the water has really caught me into another status. And spending five days in the cave and surrounded by the caves has really changed a creative atmosphere around me. I have collected sand from the river bank near the cave and also collected reed near the River. Firstly my intention was to merge the sand into the Clay and make some plates that could cover it with burnt ashes from the reed as glazes.

There were not a lot of planning before I make this group of our work. The first day when I was back from the cave, I started to feel the cave from memories. I felt they were growing out of my fingertips. As I always feel that instead of calling myself as an artist I am more of a servant of art art is just coming to this world through me. And it’s his work from Buchan is the best example of it I feel I was not planning to make anything and it just happened to be like this. I really enjoyed this experience.

Just like all my artwork this is also an interactive piece. Audience will be placing the stone in the pots in towards their own understanding. The pink lines are porcelain I wanted to use it as a symbol of my own work that is merging with the stones. And the forms a little trail I can link from one another. When interacting with the work the audience feedback or it creates a Xan satisfaction feeling and makes them wanna play with it even more. I like of serving the process of my audiences interaction was at work because it brings me a new inspirations and new understandings towards it it was not designed to be feeding exactly with the storm and the plate. It is more to have a free non-boundary like interaction.

Coalescence and Separations

2018Material: Stoneware Technique: Slab Building Technique

The inspiration for this piece was from Mortise and Tenon. Having pieces that join and separate like puzzle pieces encourages the audience to interact with the artwork. As a practicing artist, my aim is to get the audience to interact with the artwork, and to experience different possibilities in display and arrangement.

For the final artwork I wish to produce a series of slab built work with a trick gimmick. Instead of having the patterns on the surface, I wish to have a clean sharp finish for my final outcome. The two separate parts symbolize two people in a relationship. There will be some overlapping, the two different shapes are quite unique to one another. The title of this piece is Coalescence and Separations, as it is emphasizes on the merging and separating of two forms.

The method I have chosen for my final work is slab building. I have chosen a stoneware which contains a rich amount of iron, so after firing, it has a concrete, mechanical effect.

Mortise and Tenon Groups

2018Material: StonewareTechnique: Slab Building Technique

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Videos helping to explain the interactive process of the work.

Luban was a Chinese carpenter, engineer and inventor during the Zhou Dynasty. He is revered as the Chinese god of builders and contractors. Growing up in a construction family, we would start every site’s construction with a worship ceremony toward Luban. Luban has blessed our family business for generations.

The idea of using ceramics as a material to replicate delicate and complex wooden boxes is both challenging and exciting. I have evaluated my previous practice, and come to the conclusion that I am most intrigued by the idea of having audience interact with my artwork. Secondly, ceramics has always been considered as a material that once it’s fired the work is complete. Whereas painting and other art forms, it seems there’s always a point that you could come back to, to add more, if it seems to have not been completely finished. I would be willing to challenge the materiality of ceramics, to use firing as a starting point. I am keen to add acrylic to the fired surface, to illuminate the concept of always being able to refinance to takeaways the acrylic in the work again.

I have also been influenced by traditional wood crafting techniques, much like Yosegi from Japan. Yosegi-zaiku it’s a traditional Japanese Marquetry, which originated during Japan’s culturally rich Edo period. Yosegi is most commonly found on the outside of secret boxes or puzzle boxes but, is also used to embellish many other items, such as trays, chests, jewelry, boxes vases, etc. from Mortise and Tenon, to Yosegi and Luban. I have progressed to a gallery feature from very practical inspirations, however two more conceptual ideologies inspire my further exploration which will be taking my artwork to a different form of presentation in my next projects.

Cocoon

2018

Photography Self Portrait

I Smashed My Old Ceramics Work

3D Printing Work

Futurist House

Architecture has always enlightened and motivated my artwork. I am constantly seeking balance and frequently employ light and shadow in ceramics practice. I have used colored slip casting techniques; to create more depth and hierarchy within my work, by carving patterns the clay body.

Useless

2017Material: PorcelainTechnique: Throwing, Piercing

The negative and positive space in this piece creates a balanced contrast. I chose the method of carving to create the Yin Yang. Having the light and shadow come through becomes existence and the existence turn into nothing.

For the shape, I chose a daily functional ware shape. However my carving turns it into a non-functional piece. It also raised a question. What is the balance and difference between functional ware and sculpture artwork?

The triangle is the most stable form amongst all forms. The glaze choice was made to continue the contrast with a darker blue and a lighter blue. Many pieces were made yet only two survived with high quality.

Shi Se Xing Ye

2016

Did I created the world or did the world created me

This work is from my second year in BFA practice. I used a saga firing technique. I really enjoyed exploring a variety of effects. The title of the work was inspired by a status I was at, that was close to finding where everything started and ended.

Fu Lu Shou Xi Chai

2017

Fu Lu Shou Xi Cai, means luck, good job, long life, happy marriage and money. This is a simple direct message of good will spread between people around China everyday and represents a strong value in Chinese culture. The exhibition topic ‘Around the Table’ is linked to the idea of having everyone sitting around a round table at equal distance from the center to create a sense of equality and reunion for all family members from all over the place.

Instead of making functional wares for dining purposes, I have taken the topic to the next level. With the question, What is our sense of family value now?

China’s rapid development has turned it into a place where money is all that matters. “Chai” is a Chinese word, which means to tear down old houses. It can be seen everywhere in developing cities. Developers offer a lot of money to develop older properties into newer ones. In order to negotiate more money, many Chinese people react aggressively. This has turned into a social issue, involving violence, death, threats and so on. By changing the last word Cai to Chai, it is my own sarcastic attack towards this society issue. This behavior of betraying ones’ family home for money, and such unacceptable behavior is awfully shocking.

Alone at Last

2016Material: PorcelainTechnique: Throwing, Piercing

When I make ceramic art, I enjoy exploring different structures, struggling and learning through the fragility of ceramics. Challenging the clay to its maximum capacity interests me. Even when it breaks, I enjoy the entire process, because it is ceramics. A huge amount of failure has brought me to where my work is today.

Shrink Rate

2014Material: StonewareTechnique: Slip Moulding Outside of a Ballon

I purposely kept the mark of my fingertips in order to show fragility and vulnerability of ceramic materials

Animals from Parallel Universe

2014

Dirt Earth

2013

My artwork does not stop when ceramic is fired to high temperature, that is when my exploration have just started. The natural of ceramic material is frangibility, that it is destined to not be a toy that could be treated rudely. Increases people’s high concentration to play around with the artwork. Like people from tibet would stuck up rocks on their way to pilgrimage. In the process of playing around with “Dirt Earth”, a sense of peace and focus is restored. From my past exhibitions, I would invite audiences to interact with art work, audiences would also bring me new understandings, new points of view and see what I have not seen.